New property legislation assessed

The forthcoming change in landlord law, which will give tenants seven weeks' notice about when their property is repossessed, could be changed for the better, according to the Association of Residential Letting Agents (Arla).

From April, the landlord tenancy relationship will change in that renters will receive more notice than they currently do about the threat of a private landlord having their home reclaimed by a lender.

However, Arla states that this could be problematic in some situations.

"Tenants will receive up to seven weeks' notice of an order being sought but that assumes that a repossession order will be granted,"the organisation said.

"If the order is not granted, and tenants unknowingly walk away from the property, they will have broken the law by reneging on a legally binding contract."

Arla also suggests that the legislation could be better if tenants were notified "after a repossession order had been granted"because this will increase the timeframe for them to find a new place to live.

These comments follow last Friday's statement from charities Crisis, Shelter and the Citizens Advice Bureau, as well as the Chartered Institute of Housing, which suggested that tenants need more protection when their private landlords default on mortgages.